


Take it Easy, Keep it Simple

by misura



Category: Titan AE (2000)
Genre: M/M, Pillow Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 19:30:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13642968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: "Turning on your own kind," Preed mused. He felt relaxed, satisfied - for the next ten seconds, at least. "What a truly despicable thing to do. You should be ashamed of yourself."





	Take it Easy, Keep it Simple

"Turning on your own kind," Preed mused. He felt relaxed, satisfied - for the next ten seconds, at least. Humans did not possess anywhere near the flexibility required for a satisfactory ahem encounter, but out here, one made do. "What a truly despicable thing to do. You should be ashamed of yourself."

Korso groaned. Preed suspected that some parts of that soft, squishy body of his were, perhaps, feelings just a trifle sore after their recent exploits.

"I'm just being practical," Korso said.

"Is that a note of defensiveness I'm detecting?" Preed asked. "Regrets, already? Oh dear. I don't think the Drej will take well to someone reneging on one of their deals." He saw no need to mention his own deal - there was every chance someone would screw up somewhere along the line, negating any necessity for Preed to inform Korso how little value Preed put on his well-being (or rather, to be perfectly honest, how highly Preed valued his own).

Korso glared at him. "Who said anything about reneging? Like I said: I'm looking out for myself. What do I care about anyone else?"

"Ah," said Preed. Physically, Korso wasn't much - Stith, now, _that_ would be a fun ride. Unlikely to ever happen, of course, and so best left to the realm of imagination. As Korso had said: never a good idea to lose sight of what was truly important.

Poetically put, Preed loved Korso for his mind. His flexible morals more than made up for his lack of flexibility in other areas - and if Korso got a bit bossy on occasion, well, Preed had no objection to being bossed around a bit every now and then, provided it stayed within limits and happened behind closed doors. One did have one's reputation to consider, after all.

"Don't worry, you'll get your cut," Korso said, apparently mistaking Preed's silence for something it wasn't. "You got my back, I got yours, and all that."

"Such affectionate words. Truly, I'm touched."

Korso scowled. "What, no clever innuendo? I practically handed you that one on a silver platter."

"But, my dear captain, surely you know it's not your back I'm interested in."

"You're in this for the money, same as me." Korso shrugged. "I like that sort of motivation. It keeps everything simple. Easy."

"Two well-chosen adjectives," Preed approved. "The very first two that come to mind, in fact, when I consider your person. Well, perhaps not 'simple' in the usual, slightly offensive meaning of the word, but rather, as opposed to complicated. Entangled in emotional baggage. Prone to sentimentality."

Preed despised sentimentality. He had little use for fools who would trade useful goods for junk from some dead planet - although naturally, he did understand why one might need to tolerate such people for the sake of maintaining friendly relations. Akima was quite skilled in several areas, and if the price for retaining her services was throwing away some perfectly fine supplies every now and then, so be it.

"You're saying I'm easy?" Korso sounded amused.

The human sense of humor truly was an odd and many-splendored thing. "Would you prefer the term 'practical'? Should I make amends of some sort for fear of a sulk?"

Korso muttered something under his breath. Preed smiled and wriggled around a bit. Things were beginning to look up again - on his side, at least. He wasn't sure if Korso was quite ready to stop talking and start doing more interesting things with his mouth yet. (Say of humans what you liked: their mouths, at least, had been designed by someone who knew what they were doing.)

Not that he particularly cared. "Oh dear. Did I touch a nerve? Tongue tired?"

"You're insatiable, and it would serve you right if I left right now," Korso said.

"Actually, given your first statement, that wouldn't serve me very well at all. Who else is going to be so kind as to satisfy my every whim? My every dark desire?" Preed considered emphasizing his words with some mild physical restraint - Korso tended to respond splendidly to such things, apparently considering them a challenge to his authority that had to be answered as soon as possible.

Then again, at the moment, he was in more of a ... taking kind of mood. Brave words aside, Preed suspected that the deal with the Drej did not sit entirely well with Korso. Possibly, Korso had hoped to talk them out of a more considerable sum of money.

Whatever the cause might be, Korso's mood these past days had been less than sanguine. Preed felt he was owed a treat, some form of recompense. An apology, if you wished.

Putting Korso in a more ... giving mood would seem to be a first requirement to bring about such a happy event, which meant playing the good, obedient underling for a bit. Inasfar as such was realistically possible.

Korso grinned. "Not my problem, is it? I got what I wanted."

"Am I going to have to say please?" Preed mock-shuddered. "Pretty please, even? Besides, come now, captain, what you want is a good bit more than what you've just gotten. I've barely even gotten started."

Korso looked smug. Preed hated him, just a little. Not a bad thing; it added a bit of extra spice.

"I've got a ship to run, you know. Can't just lie about all the time. Things to do."

"Oh, spare me." Preed rolled his eyes.

"Just remember: I started this, and I can end it any damn time I want to," Korso said. "This ... arrangement, it's got nothing to do with that other thing. Nothing. We keep up our end of the deal, we split the money, and for all I care, we never set eyes on each other again."

"And here I was hoping we'd go honey-mooning on one of the pleasure moons of Kalixta."

"Funny."

"Admit it, you do love my sparkling sense of humor. It's one of my finest qualities, among a host of other things."

"Like your ability to shut up when you should stop talking?"

Preed smirked. "Ah. Now that you mention it, yes, I do suppose so. Well-spotted, captain."


End file.
